CLOSURE WITH SELECTABLE DISPENSING ORIFICES

FERMETURE A ORIFICES DISTRIBUTEURS A SELECTIONNER

English Abstract

A dispenser for dispensing a viscous material in a selected one of a multiplicity of configurations comprises a container having a squeezable body and neck with a discharge opening at its upper end. Engaged with the container is a closure body of generally circular cross section with a top wall and skirt. The top wall has a post with a discharge passage therethrough aligned with the neck discharge opening. A generally circular rotating disc is rotatably disposed on the closure body top wall and has a central hub seating said post. The post has an aperture alignable with the hub discharge passage for passage of viscous material therethrough. The disc has a multiplicity of flow openings spaced about the disc in a circular array and represents a multiplicity of configurations. The disc also has a multiplicity of flow channels extending from the post to the flow openings of the disc, and it is rotatable to align the flow channel of the selected flow opening with the aperture in the post to permit viscous material to flow through the neck and top wall of the closure body into the post and outwardly in flow channels to a selected disc discharge opening.

French Abstract

Distributeur de matière visqueuse réalisé selon une configuration choisie parmi plusieurs possibilités comprenant un contenant doté d'un corps compressible et d'un col doté d'un orifice d'éjection à son extrémité supérieure. Sur le contenant se trouve un dispositif de fermeture circulaire doté d'une paroi supérieure et d'une jupe. La paroi supérieure comprend un appui avec un passage d'éjection aligné sur l'orifice d'éjection du col. Un disque rotatif est placé de manière à pouvoir tourner sur la paroi supérieure du dispositif de fermeture et comprend un moyeu central fixé sur l'appui. L'appui comprend une ouverture pouvant s'aligner avec le moyeu pour permettre l'éjection de la matière visqueuse. Plusieurs ouvertures d'écoulement espacées sont placées autour du disque dans un réseau circulaire, permettant ainsi plusieurs configurations. Le disque comprend également plusieurs canaux d'écoulement s'étendant à partir de l'appui vers les ouvertures d'écoulement du disque. Le disque peut tourner pour permettre l'alignement du canal d'écoulement de l'ouverture d'écoulement choisie avec l'ouverture de l'appui, ce qui permet à la matière visqueuse de s'écouler par le col et la paroi supérieure du dispositif de fermeture vers l'appui, puis dans le canal d'écoulement vers l'ouverture d'écoulement du disque choisie.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege
is
claimed are defined as follows:
1. A dispenser for dispensing a viscous material in a selected one of a
multiplicity of
configurations, the dispenser comprising:
(a) a container for a volume of a viscous material, said container having a
squeezable
body and a neck with a discharge opening at its upper end;
(b) a closure body of generally circular cross section having a top wall and a
skirt,
said top wall having a coaxial post with a discharge passage therethrough
aligned with
said discharge opening of said neck, said closure body having means thereon
engaging
said container; and
(c) a generally circular rotatable disc overlying said top wall of said
closure body and
being rotatable thereon, said disc having a central hub seating said post,
said disc having
a multiplicity of flow openings spaced about said disc in a circular array,
said flow
openings representing a multiplicity of configurations, said disc having a
multiplicity of
flow channels extending from said post to said flow openings of said disc,
said disc being
rotatable to align the flow channel of a selected flow opening with said
discharge passage
of said closure post to permit viscous material to flow through said neck and
top wall of
said closure body into said post and outwardly in said flow channels to the
selected flow
opening.
2. The dispenser in accordance with claim 1, wherein said disc has a
peripheral
channel opening downwardly and said top wall of said closure body has an
upstanding
circular ring which snap fits into said channel to provide the rotatable
engagement of said
disc on said closure.
3. The dispenser in accordance with claim 2, wherein said peripheral channel
is
formed in an upwardly extending peripheral boss on said disc top wall.
6

4. The dispenser in accordance with claim 3, wherein said flow openings are in
circular bosses on said disc.
5. The dispenser in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein said
container
neck is externally threaded and wherein the bottom surface of said closure
body has a
depending threaded barrel portion, said threaded neck being threadably engaged
with said
neck.
6. The dispenser in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein said
container
is a flexible tubular member sealed at the end opposite said neck.
7. The dispenser in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein said
discharge
passage of the closure post is formed in the side wall of said post and has a
width
substantially equal to the width of said flow channels.
8. The dispenser in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein said
closure
body includes an overcap having a top wall and peripheral skirt extending over
said disc
and closure top wall.
9. The dispenser in accordance with claim 8, wherein said disc has an
upstanding
boss extending about the periphery thereof, said boss being of lesser diameter
than said
top wall of said closure body to provide a peripheral step and said skirt of
said overcap
seats thereon.
10. The dispenser in accordance with claim 3, wherein said channel in said
boss has
an undercut portion and said top wall of said closure body has a ring
formation with an
enlarged portion at its upper end to provide said snap fit.
7

Description

CA 02550183 2006-06-14
CLOSURE WITH SELECTABLE DISPENSING ORIFICES
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to containers and, more particularly, containers
for
dispensing viscous materials such as foodstuffs and decorative materials.
Dispensers for various types of viscous materials include tubes of frosting,
sealant
cartridges, toothpaste tubes and the like. In some instances, the dispensers
have a fitment
which provides both a large aperture and a small aperture for dispensing,
either of which
may be selected depending upon the volume to be dispensed.
Some food products employ packaging which allows children to dispense a food
product by squeezing a compressible container containing a viscous comestible
such as
cheese, peanut butter, jelly and the like. The child is able to make patterns
of the food
product on a cracker or bread slice, thus providing some play action.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel squeezable
container for a
viscous product which can be discharged through a dispensing closure which
provides a
multiplicity of discharge openings of different cross section.
It is also an object to provide such a container which permits facile
switching among
the several discharge openings.
Another object is to provide such a squeezable container which may be readily
assembled from easily fabricated components.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It has now been found that the foregoing and related objects can be readily
attained
in a dispenser for dispensing a viscous material in a selected one of a
multiplicity of
configurations comprising a squeezable container for a volume of a viscous
material and
having a body and a neck with a discharge opening at its upper end. Engaged
with the

CA 02550183 2006-06-14
container is a closure body of generally circular cross section having a top
wall and a skirt,
and the wall has a central post with a discharge passage therethrough aligned
with the
discharge opening of the neck.
A generally circular disc is disposed on the closure body top wall, and
overlies and
is rotatable on the top wall of the closure body. The disc has a center hub
seated on the
post and has an aperture therein alignable with the discharge passage of the
closure body
hub for passage of viscous material therethrough. The disc has a multiplicity
of flow
openings spaced about the disc in a circular array and the flow openings
represent a
multiplicity of configurations. The disc also has a multiplicity of flow
channels extending
from the post to the flow openings of the disc, and the disc is rotatable to
align the flow
channel of the selected flow opening with the aperture in the post. This
permits viscous
material to flow though the neck and top wall of the closure body into the
post and
outwardly in the flow channels to a selected disc discharge opening.
Preferably, the disc has a peripheral channel opening downwardly and the top
wall
of the closure body has an upstanding circular ring which snaps fitted into
the channel to
provide the rotatable engagement of the disc on the closure body. Desirably,
the peripheral
channel is formed in a peripheral boss on the upper surface of the disc, and
the discharge
openings are in circular bosses on the disc.
Generally, the container neck is externally threaded and the bottom surface of
the
closure body has a depending threaded barrel portion which is threadably
engaged with the
neck. Preferably, the container is a flexible tubular member sealed at the end
opposite the
neck. The post discharge passage is formed in the side wall of the post and
has a width
substantially equal to the width of the flow channels.
2

CA 02550183 2009-05-14
Desirably, the closure also includes an overcap having a top wall and
peripheral
skirt. The disc has an upstanding boss extending about the periphery thereof
and it is of
lesser diameter than the top wall of the closure body to provide a shoulder on
which the
skirt of the overcap seats. The channel in the boss has an undercut portion
and the top wall
of the closure body has a ring formulation with an enlarged portion at its
upper end to
provide the snap fit.
According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a dispenser
for
dispensing a viscous material in a selected one of a multiplicity of
configurations, the
dispenser comprising:
(a) a container for a volume of a viscous material, said container having a
squeezable
body and a neck with a discharge opening at its upper end;
(b) a closure body of generally circular cross section having a top wall and a
skirt,
said top wall having a coaxial post with a discharge passage therethrough
aligned with
said discharge opening of said neck, said closure body having means thereon
engaging
said container; and
(c) a generally circular rotatable disc overlying said top wall of said
closure body and
being rotatable thereon, said disc having a central hub seating said post,
said disc having
a multiplicity of flow openings spaced about said disc in a circular array,
said flow
openings representing a multiplicity of configurations, said disc having a
multiplicity of
flow channels extending from said post to said flow openings of said disc,
said disc being
rotatable to align the flow channel of a selected flow opening with said
discharge passage
of said closure post to permit viscous material to flow through said neck and
top wall of
said closure body into said post and outwardly in said flow channels to the
selected flow
opening.
3

CA 02550183 2009-05-14
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a container embodying the present invention
and
with the overcap pivoted into an open position and the tubular container
fragmentarily
illustrated;
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the closure body with the disc removed from
the
body;
Figure 3 is a plan view of the closure with the overcap in the open position;
Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the closure along the
line 4-4
of Figure 3;
Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the circled portion in
Figure
4; and
Figure 6 is a plan view of the disc.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Turning first to Figure 1 of the attached drawings, therein illustrated is a
dispenser
embodying the present invention comprising a tubular container generally
designated by the
numeral 10 and a dispensing closure generally designated by the numeral 12.
The closure
12 has a body generally designated by the numeral 14, a dispenser disc
generally designated
by the numeral 16, and an overcap generally designated by the numeral 18.
3a

CA 02550183 2006-06-14
As seen in Figures 2-5, the closure 12 has a top wall 20 and a peripheral
depending
skirt 22. A threaded barrel 24 depends from the lower surface of the top wall
20 and the
neck 26 of the container 10, and the lip 28 of the container neck 26 bears
against the
annular ring 30 on the lower surface of the top wall 20. In the center of the
top wall 20 is
an upstanding frustoconical post 32 with a discharge passage or slot 34 at a
point about the
periphery thereof. Extending about the upper surface of the top wall 20 is an
upstanding
boss or rib 36 with an enlarged portion 38 at its upper end. The boss 36 is
spaced radially
inwardly from the periphery of the top wall 20 to provide a shoulder 40.
The overcap 18 has a top wall 42 and a peripheral skirt 44 which seats on the
shoulder 40. The closure is integrally molded with a hinge 46.
Turning now in detail to the disc 16, it is of circular configuration with a
top wall
48, a central hub 50 having a frustoconical recess seating the post 32 and a
peripheral
flange 52 having a downwardly opening channel 54 therein into which the boss
36 snaps to
provide a rotatable engagement thereon. Spaced about the top wall 48 are a
multiplicity of
discharge openings 56 of different configurations. A series of spoke-like
bosses 58 radiate
from the hub 50 and provide flow channels 60 from the discharge passage 34 in
the post 32
to the discharge openings 56 when the passage 34 and a flow channel 60 are
aligned.
It will be readily appreciated that the squeezable container can take the form
of a
tube or a bottle, and it can be easily fabricated by extrusion and molding of
tubular shapes,
and injection and blow molding of synthetic resin to form bottles in
accordance with
general technology. The resin employed should allow facile squeezing to
compress the
container and force material to flow outwardly of the container. Polyolefins
have proven
highly acceptable for such applications.
4

CA 02550183 2006-06-14
The closure and disc do not require a flexible construction and are also
conveniently
molded from polyolefms although other more rigid resins may also be employed.
The three components are easily fabricated and assembled. Preferably, the disc
and
closure may be assembled and then threaded onto the container. The container
can be filled
through the neck, or, in the instance of tubes, they can be filled and then
the opposite end is
closed and sealed.
In use, the child (or adult) can rotate the disc to align the discharge
opening of the
desired configuration in the operational position. Squeezing the container
will then force
material to flow from the interior of the container through the neck into the
post and then
outwardly through a flow channel to a discharge opening. The discharging
material has the
shape or configuration of the discharge opening selected and continuous beads
or small
deposits can be generated. When the squeezing pressure on the container is
released, flow
from the container ends. The material in the closure passages can be "sealed"
by rotating
the disc to a position in which the flow channels are not aligned with the
discharge passage
in the post.
Thus, it can be seen from the foregoing detailed description and the attached
drawings that it is an object of the present invention provides a novel
squeezable container
for a viscous product which can be discharged through a dispensing closure
which provides
a multiplicity of discharge openings of different cross sections.
The container permits facile switching among the several discharge openings
and it
may be readily assembled from easily fabricated components.

Representative Drawing